all right on the agenda tonight is uh looks like the first item on the agenda tonight is the 2024 25 Schoolboard goals superintendent gr all right hi David um I think uh first it
would be good to ground kind of ground the conversation in the Strategic Direction so if you could pull up that wheel that's in your packet and just as a reminder this this
document came as a result of the synthesis of uh Community input that included focus groups Community survey staff at every site students parents all of that that was that big report that Ed and
Laura put together and out of that came six strategic directions that are uh that you'll see in more kind of fleshed out form on the operational plan but these are the six areas that we are focusing on as a strategy team we shared
this at that update that I gave to you in May but these are the six things that you know I know I might be one of whatever 500 and some that have these all memorized but it's something that everybody needs to be familiar with and
become familiar with as we talk about it more um but these are really the basis and we've tried to tie everything we're doing back to those so if we look at the 23 24 board goals or objectives um the first one had to do
with the operational plan we did that that was completed and I actually have an updated one in your um packet now just as a draft some things that we need to adjust and we can talk about that later um but that was completed the
student achievement goal uh is really the one where we fell short we've had a lot of conversation with our uh strategy team about this and we've been talking a lot about process goals at this point um this is more of an outcome goal
and there gets to be a place in our system where until we're addressing the systems the processes we have in place we've kind of squee squeezed as much blood out of the turnup in terms of those processes or systems um and for us
right now that the limiting factor at this point we have a strong intervention system but our Core Curriculum and core instruction is the barrier for our outcome achievement so um that 6% gain
was aggressive um and I think for some folks it became um the outcome became a distraction from what they actually needed to do to to get there so we're talking a lot more in terms of process this year we're still going to obviously look at our data because that's
important that's one of the chief things on our scorecard but um our focus is going to be a lot more on process this year so Matt what does that mean obviously we have the 6% on our 23 24 what does that mean going forward is it
still be 6% that we to talk about 6% is it something different than that yeah so at the building level for instance we're going to be talking about um implementation of wit and wisdom at a Fidelity rate of 70% as measured by walkthroughs building walkthroughs so
that's much more of a process knowing that that curriculum is um based on the science of reading and that the outcome of it's going to influence scores rather than focusing on the scores themselves so on the new goals I talk about raising
student achievement but I didn't put a particular number down and we can talk about that if we want to do that um three execute plans to stabilize the district finances through additional Community Support that really was about
the referendum um we executed a referendum and obviously we're unsuccessful but you know in terms of maybe it's class half it did create an opportunity for us to talk a lot about our financial needs more people know about the challenges we're up against um and the inequities
that exist between rural districts and Metro districts um and for sure our situation here so um we did execute the referendum but we unsuccessful four uh support the Deep Li deepen implementation of the science of
reading in all grade levels in the spring of 2023 um we identified a curriculum that aligns with the state the state's um I guess recommendations that almost say
requirements uh as well as a PD program through the University of Minnesota called carry all and so that professional development plan is in place for the fall um it's actually beginning um we
from this the leader training is actually tomorrow so our principles will begin implementation training tomorrow and then there'll be a teacher session shortly after that so that's well on its way um one of the things that's very
different about our approach moving forward and I shared with uh I shared with our staff our kind of strategy team and the principles that um
um our top strategic Direction has to do with Equitable education that means that we need a guaranteed and viable curriculum that everybody's every kid is getting and if that's happening then the experience of a student in third grade
in kasset should be the same as the experience of a third grader in big Fort terms of what they're material and that hasn't been the case right there's been a very very high degree of variability and so the chart that I described was
this this um these two axises where we have high variability down one axis and high autonomy in the other and when we have high autonomy when people can do what they want we're going to have a high degree of variability and when we have a high degree of variability there's no way we can have an equitable education
so our pacing guide for the fall is very very specific much more specific than what um I think our staff are used to for instance you could look on that pacing died and see on October
12th what lesson should be taught all of them should be teaching the same thing on the same day now like I said that's a much higher degree of specificity than has ever happened um here and I'd say probably in
most places and there probably will be some questions about autonomy that I understand but until we have um that degree of specificity happening in our system there's no way
to diagnose what the problem really is if everybody's doing their own thing at their own pace and I think um evidence of the variability we have right now comes from classroom
requests people requesting a particular teacher for their child and when you look at the subset of who's making those requests it's very eye openening um and if we have a low low degree of variability those
requests shouldn't shouldn't be there because those children's experience should be the same no matter what school you're in Matt do we have unit support uh on this the teachers are actually there is the the English language arts committee is the one that have been
they've been designing the whole thing sweet so they they've been they met last uh last Monday a week ago to design the expectations uh and so we have again this is new new territory for us um but
very very clear expectations about what's going to get um T when uh how that aligns with the pacing from wit and wisdom the curriculum company um and again that's really the ELA committee is the one that said we need
to do that so I I would think by going to gr level schools that would be an advantage for everybody right being in the same being in the same right if they got a question talk to the corent part yeah you're right um previously you know
if you think about that from a teaching and learning standpoint this side of the table would have been in one side of town teaching this that side of the table would have been another and now in the hallway literally after school there can be a conversation about that lesson today because we all should have been
doing lesson 28 or whatever so the accountability would be the walkthroughs correct so um um the accountability will be the walkthroughs to be in classrooms looking for uh the implementation of wit and wisdom did I observe a language arts
lesson and then are they on the are they in the place they're supposed to be do we have adequate resources uh to do for all classrooms to same thing same um as far as curriculum yes yep we spent what we needed to spend in order for all
the teachers to have all the resources they needed good um I think one of the things that will be as challenging as anything is the accountability part yeah because we're down you know three principles um and that means means that
the capacity to be in those buildings be in those rooms is down so we talked about that um I've told the principles that my expectation is that they'll be getting some principal Subs during the year uh
every principal that we have has people in their building that are licensed to be principles or in a neighboring building and it's good for that teacher to get out of the classroom and experience that uh too but that's really the only way that we can guarantee that
that principal is going to be able to unplug from the duties that they have and in many cases now for our buildings they might be solo um to unplug enough to be able to get into rooms the way they need to so um that's also from the
accountability standpoint going to be something that I'm talking about when I'm meeting with them monthly to talk about how made you get done what are you seeing what trends are you seeing so um the the three things that we're talking a
lot about as in that admin group and with our strategy team is Clarity intentionality and accountability are we clear about what we want is there a plan to actually get it done and how are we going to know if we're doing it um so
this it'll be different I back to David's point in resources obviously we're making a big shift change right in back to accountability and student achievement and all that let's make sure we have the right amount of resources on our front end so that they can be successful going forward if we cut
ourselves short there we're setting oursel up for failure down way and I understand it's a budgetary thing but we need to work through that to make sure whether it's a sub here or a sub there let's do what we need to do so that it can be successful going forward so there is a good Buy in and we
done create friction and yeah just chaos whatever on it so what's what's the typical duration of a a walk through it's it's generally pretty short because they're mean less than 15 minutes they're in there to walk they're in there to look for a particular thing um
and what we talk about and one of the uh concerns that comes up is well you just weren't in my classroom when that when that was happening and that's that's true sometimes uh and the metaphor that I use is if you know if David went on a
family vacation to Arizona and your your remember picture books and you have uh but if your book of pictures if you think about each one of those being a walkthr if there wasn't one single
picture of the Grand Canyon in there it would be safe for me it would be a reasonable conclusion of mine that you didn't go there if on all these Pages there was not a single picture of the Grand Canyon now that it's possible that that's but it's more likely than not
that you didn't go there so if we're the the purpose of walkthroughs isn't about to be able to go Mark Schroeder isn't this or that it's just be as a building we're not implementing with Fidelity it's an aggregated view it's
the whole book of pictures not a page so um they're relatively short they're looking for something very specific in nature so another thing that we'll be doing the curricular initiative is a A8 that's also something
that's relatively unique that we have a literacy program that's spans all the way up through e8th grade our high school teachers are excited because there's no break in the scope and sequence for them now they can look at and go well we know exactly where these
eighth graders are getting dropped off there's no like well they went from this program to this program to this and that they they're and they're excited about that but since that is K8 the high school staff is an implementing carry all they're not implementing wit and wisdom they're going to be focusing on
instructional strategies based on a um uh explicit instruction is the name of the text from Anita Archer and they're going to be working on opening a lesson what are productive effective ways to open a lesson so the walkthroughs at the high school are
going to be based on looking for those strategies in that area so more on the approach Less on the content the element it'll be it'll be a little bit of both and Jill's doing a great job you know one of the things when we lost our teaching and learning director um
teaching and learning obviously is turned up a dial so Jill is really carrying the water when it comes to that Elementary piece Ryan is helping to carry the water at the secondary level um to kind of help keep things moving forward
there so as a teacher um let's say it's second grade and they're teaching language arts and the kid doesn't get it and so day one day two kid doesn't
get it day three the kid doesn't get it where does a teacher fall in does a child get left behind or or does remedial
part of that's when you get into the tier two and three yeah you know remediation there's re definitely reteaching that has to happen with kids that aren't getting it the first time um and then if there are some learning challenges or learning gaps I mean we
we're still we're still dealing with that through the system where you know there are eighth grade kids who a few years ago didn't have a very solid year of instruction um so we're still dealing
with covid kids and as much as like I don't want to dwell on that the research continues and the studies continue to show like it did make a big difference um and so we're still playing catch up from that uh but there will be
reteaching and then that's where our intervention system comes in but um we're still I mean this Fidelity piece is still a place where we have to improve so that we know it's not just about us saying that we were going to do
this Orton gillingham's a great example like we rolled out this really good you know bmic awareness component to our curriculum it's only as good as the implementation Fidelity we're not doing what we say we're going to
do it's not helping us so part of what we're rolling out aren't just expectations relative to um Carry y' or wi and wisdom but it's also going back a little bit to OG and saying hey you can't forget that component of it because if you're not
knocking that out of the park in first and second grade we shouldn't be teaching OG in third grade and if we are it's because we didn't do it we didn't kind of hit it enough in first and second it's not you know it's just it's
the reality so we have to be we have to have that Fidelity I I said that two key things in my mind that is intentionality and accountability right setting those expectations um obviously that's going to be a shift for the staff but if we
can get it all in those Zs going in the same direction keep at it it'll get easier as we go right I I think it will it's nice yeah Will so I like it um then five support the Deep deepen
implementation of mtss that's something that District's committed to a lot of resources too and it needs to continue to do that that's something that we can't let off the gas pedalon um a part of that like our next back to Fidelity a
next part of that and you'll see in the operational plan revision I included some language in there because one of the things that uh we have to ensure is that our our data Gathering relative to that
is happening the way that it needs to happen so I mentioned in the green here um we had more staff adhere to the testing Windows during 23 24 and as a just kind of a quick reminder we don't just wait until mca's to find out how
our kids are doing we Benchmark in the fall we Benchmark in the winter we Benchmark in the spring and that data is going to come to you this year I haven't shared that with you previously but that data is I mean you've seen it as like Ryan or Jen but you're going to see it right after the benchmarking window was
over and those assessments have been given out um we create these windows and it's really important that those assessments happen in those windows because if that window stretches out the the quality of that data goes down because all of a sudden this kid's been
in school for four weeks longer taking the same assessment if these assessments are normed at all it has to they have to be relatively C so um we had way more staff testing the window uh and you know
it's a typical implementation where we had some people jump on right away because they saw the importance some people it was about compliance only some people had really good reasons like testing at that time really disrupts my curriculum you know that I had this
project or whatever they're really good reasons but it's one of those things where um the whole is more important than an individual piece right like the whole system needs this individual piece to be to fall in line a little bit so
some of the reasons are rational but terms of the greater good but terms of the greater good they need said here so we're going to continue to keep our putot on that pedal too going forward just thing regards of the testing is when we talk Well everybody's going to
be doing the same lesson plan on day whatever will we all be doing the testing the same day then they'll be all in in a window yep yep and the windows we've had to adjust the window too because we've made Cuts in technology which means we have le less devices it
used to be that if all of us had to give an assessment we could all do it at the same day on the same day at the same time can't do that anymore because we're the three of us might be sharing a cart so we have to figure out how we're going to do it and you might be in the same situation so I mean we're making all
these things work still some it you know as you'd expect budget cuts affect how we're able to roll and one of the ways it's affecting us is our ability to you know have these windows be as tight maybe as we'd want them we have to make them a little bit longer not too long
obvious but um but a lot going on there and you know uh even back to four we're talking about reading there um but it's the same thing with the science that we rolled out you know uh we still have to hammer on Fidelity there make sure that we're
teaching stem sculpts when we need to be teaching stem sculpts in the Junior High um that's another walkthrough item where it's like okay am I in here seeing that curriculum being used and that kind of thing um six deepen collaborative Partnerships I mean we took a huge jump
in that this last year uh activating on collaborative collaboration opportunities with NK Andis taking on their business departments and HR duties that was a big uh a big step and so um
is is it all in place uh yes yep we are yep all of it is in place we're operating fully all of I ask we're operating fully all of enk so is that going okay yeah I mean there's still some some things we're working through
like what were the what were the employee expect ations previously um how do those employee or administrative expectations align with best practice and as we operate that business
or HR department then which do we which do we administer do we do we provide the same level of service that 3 employees expect or get or do we deploy the same level of service that those
employees maybe expected or got and so I think we're still working through some of that right now because I don't I think in a number of cases they're different but our I mean I will say that our our business and HR departments are
both really working working they're working really hard to figure it out because it's you know Cara talks she's said today it's like we're taking care of three babies and you know I never had triples so I'm glad I didn't um but
that's kind of what it's like it's hard strange yeah it is y um and then the communications plan um obviously that's done you approved that last fall uh we've been talking about
our Communications campaign focusing on building trust and confidence and that newsletter which was a part of the we did is coming back for the fall based on those recommendations so um that's all moving forward well that's kind of where we
landed um maybe if you want to take a look at the operational plan I uh at msba I was at one of the sessions and saw a district had this real fancy fancy one and I was like I just have a spreadsheet I made in Google
Sheets and it's not so maybe I'll have uh Lauren pretty it up a little bit but um I didn't make any changes to strategic Direction Number One Equitable access representation outcomes
um this is this work is kind of slow I mean we're we're spending there's like an objective 1.1 that we've been working on which is our data is not clean
so for instance in our Behavior reporting we had maybe people reporting the same behavior in two different ways like I call it this so I call it that and so we've had to we brought a work group together teachers primarily on
that group how are we going to Define these Behavior outcomes that align with the reporting we have to do this state so that we're all calling the same behavior the same thing so that when we get data at the end of the day we know okay what kind of disparities actually exist so we kind of had to step back on
on this one a minute uh I didn't change anything in culture of trust engagement and belonging we're objective 2.1 we're in great shape uh objective 2.2 we're going to work on handing that off to the wellness
committee that's really about staff staff well-being um and then yeah so I didn't make any other changes of those in the Strategic Direction number three evidence-based practices in student centered learning
the objective that was there had to do with uh looking at grading practices and report card practices and while I think that's important I think it will come that will come naturally as a function
of the curricular changes we've made so when we're teaching reading in a consistent way it'll always it'll it'll make sense to report on that learning in a consistent way so plus it I don't think is as important of a objective in
my opinion as um Fidelity around the multi-tiered systems of support agre so that that's a change for you to look at and consider and then um on the last page strategic correction number five
um objective 5.1 was completing it this is now about operationalizing it we need to put it in play um and then 5.3 um it was similar except about this plan getting that done and now it's
about updating it and sharing it so that was a change I'm recommending six 6.1 talked about fiscal year 24 and to make it just more relevant to the Year we're in I I changed that language
recommending that 6.2 the language there wasn't very specific about how what does that mean to talk about financial stability that was the word we used and I thought it'd be good just to talk specifically about fund balance um in the board policy um and then
6.3 uh was about initiating negotiations remember if you rewind back to the beginning it was about we got to get to the table fast so that we can get contracts done and put in ourselves was in a position for our referendum strategy so that wasn't
relevant anymore and I thought this made sense to align this about kind of connects to our communication goal obviously but or objective but so that's uh not looking for Action tonight this eventually will come to you for Action to to update it but I wanted to share
that with you before we talk about goals for 24 25 any comments on that that's good I have a question Matt yeah so on the communications plan who is doing most of that or some
people so it's a team of people really um Julie has picked up a part of the work I picked part of the work um we shifted kind of made a Personnel change
in uh Community Ed so Lauren still is in the same number of hours positioned but really more focused on uh activities outside of the community
ed um booklet or catalog so she's involved in community ed Communications for sure but also helping with district-wide communication efforts and then Melanie debay also picking up a lot of that so they kind of have gone on a
bunch of directions and we meet you know as a group um with Colin from mountains viiew still he's still helping us kind of you know keep things moving and um he's good at throwing things out there and saying I can help with this if
you need to and then we talk about do we need that or can we do that internally so like the newsletter is a great example he said I have somebody that can put that completely together for you if you want um I can have a shell given to you if you want and you fill it in or you can do the whole thing and just keep
me posted and so we talked about what the best way most you know cost effective way who has capacity so Lauren's you know Lauren's going to take that and kind of organize that and do that but it's kind of a sounds good
yeah okay um all right so on the what I'm uh showing here you'll see number one I was talking about with Pat there uh talking more generally really about student achievement um because part of how I
want to measure that or show you data around that is in those benchmark assessments not just MCA results so when you're seeing data from Ryan come back or Jen come back a lot of Cl it's in those um you know fast Bridge or star or some of those other benchmarking
assessments and so that's how I I framed that up any comments about that or questions or changes or throw it out that looks good to me agreed Matt back to my question about
you know we talk about 6% and in our 23 24 how do we transition to where we're going now and communicate with public and as I said in the past the public is always stuck on numbers right we're only 30% of our kids this
and 70% of our kids that yeah and we talked about a goal of 6% gain and that we we didn't obain that but we're g to make a shift and I don't want to be conspir conspir conspiracy theorist here but well how come we not right you know what
I'm saying what's our response that and here's the why way we're transitioning to to this yeah they'll still be talking about numerical MCA data at the building level um because really if you look at I
mean let's just look at building by building 6% gain in Cohasset is more difficult than a 6% gain in another building why because they're already achieving 10% higher so
this you know that curve that achievement curve isn't it's logarithmic it's not linear so that it gets harder the far so so talking about it at Cohasset a 3% gain might be more relevant to them and more you know
aggressive but attainable than that might be at east or west or coass or middle school so it'll still be happening at the building level um we're still we we we still are talking about student achievement we're just measuring it in a variety of ways and focusing
more on process because we've kind of squeezed as much out of you know where we're at what we're doing now as we can yeah I would just add to that then I think it's important that we talk more with the community if you
will on our benchmarks that we're looking at as the year goes on yeah right versus just waiting for the MCA it's always around right and we lose sight of the rest of that so I think be more intentional of putting in information I think getting quarterly uh
Benchmark reports is going to be deal that's why I think talking about at the at the board meeting after those windows is going to be key um two in our belonging wedge your belonging strategic Direction um I put
identify opportunities to improve the employee experience uh we did some work our Wellness committee did some work this year there um and I'm either looking to that group or maybe the Labor Management committee to pick that work up we talked at our
Wellness committee meeting last week about identifying some sort of a measurement tool um I took a look at like Northfield they have a employee satisfaction uh survey that they give um there's pluses and minuses to all those
um but I think that it would be and this kind of ties back to that mental health you know policy that you talked about David um just as a way to identify that that's important and identify some opportunities that exist
there thoughts or comments on that three uh we talked about previously but it's a big you know now we're talking more specifically about the react wit and wisdom um and so uh it's a really important thing for the board to support one of the things back to resources and
time um we have a staff person who is um a trainer for wit and wisdom they have a full-time job here in a in a ideal situation I would like to release that person from
their job and have them entirely be focused on implementing this curriculum because it's one of the things that you know this as a practical matter that's challenging wit and wisdom was designed to be taught during a kind of an extended period of time like a 90 minute
literacy blog we don't have that at the middle school for instance have 45 minute class streats but what does that mean does it mean it takes two days to do lesson or do you adapt that lesson to so those are
the things that our staff person has experienced talking with people about and working on so back there I've spoken to her and ran and others about how do we free her up to be able to do some
coaching to be able to get in classrooms and provide some support and if we can the more time that I can get her with our staff I think the better that implementation will be if we had zero budget concerns I'd be
here saying she needs to be out of her classroom fulltime just working on literacy implementation and she had the data from her own classroom to prove that she knows what she's doing man is there any grant Grand
opportunities any place that we could look to to find I'm not aware of but uh it's something that that we'll look into whether it's mde or others um number five uh or number four
in terms of Partnerships and collaboration you know I thought about I thought about this from a little bit different perspective and I'm curious to hear what you think but we focused last year on external Partnerships that strategic direction also includes how
well are we working internally together and so um I can't emphasize enough the lift that the strategy team is doing um in many cases it's work Beyond I I can
say many it's probably all Beyond people's normal you know scope and the strategy team goals we talked about them today we had a strategy team meeting uh we refined those um I'll bring those to you um when they're kind of official and
rolled out but uh and and generally what I do you can actually see on the bottom of the this operational plan I've generally listed like what are the strategy team goals that we're working on in the service of this thing because I want everybody to know that what we're
doing is all tied back to you um but it's it's similar things like getting very they're getting very specific about data walls about W wisdom implantation about effective instructional strategies it's the things that you know we've talked about at a little bit higher
level here but more specific level so but I think it's important to call that out um so I don't know what your thoughts are on that I like that idea matth but I want to continue to focus and to be aware of other Partnerships Community
Partnerships and so forth I think uh that's a key part of our Communications so I think yes both okay I'll maybe add a piece to that okay yeah I think you can concentrate on internal versus external at different
times yeah because one of the things we're working on right now externally is you know we we've had dialogue over a period of I don't know a year about shared coursework things like that we have a
draft mou that we're going to be reviewing um it's the union leaders from theas districts came together to talk about what would it look like if we had a Consolidated memorandum around shared
courses that would be a significant thing because it would really change it would really change the dialogue about and the I think perspective and perception about that work you know moving from threatening to opper
opportunities and yeah so anyway that that will be a something that's really unheard of if we're able to get to that place and we have to keep Hing it actually sends a message to all the staff as well as the
community that we really are in this together for the betterment of the yeah that's true so I'll add something about the external piece because we are continuing to lean into that um five uh are strategic Direction
number five is around communication and so getting that newsletter going which is no small feat from a kind of human resource standpoint but there's a cost involved to that too and again going back to the fact that we heard from our
community especially those that aren't that don't have kids that newsletter was something they read it was one of the ways they got information about us um you know people not on social not on the internet don't have kids y that was how
they found out about us so um getting that going we're not going to do I think we previously did four a year I think we've talked about doing three is that sound right Julie um and then the stakeholder meetings that we've talked about here at this
level and then six stewardship of resources maintain balance budget for fiscal 25 again that'll be our uh third one in a row and then stabilizer gr unreserved fund balance anything in five and six you'd
like me to add or change or dump or start over oh let's not stabilize the budget just a comment and goes of the budget and an in regards to the public obviously we're coming into a budget year at the state right and I think if
we can engage the public to help us in sending a message down not just from us as Schoolboard members of the superintendent they always hear from us right about the needs I think if we engage engage the public and give some talking points to talk to the legislators I think it means a heck of a
lot more when it's coming from constituencies not necessarily from board superintendent and not so um will the end result be the same I don't know but I think if we can get engage the community to participate in
that they all expect me to ask for more money that's good no and if we I mean I think the resolutions are one of them at least is a really good example right like very specific very targeted um so all right I'll bring this this will come back to you for approval then I'll make
that addition to number four there and then we can do with that as you ready for the next item yes sir yeah resolution uh for msba delegate assembly looks like we have two of them
um yeah thanks uh so this is something that we've had board members participate in on the delegate side and uh that's great um as we look at this in terms of our role here in Grand area schools to take a lead on there were two that came
to mind uh one of them was around the mascot and um I you know I've had this conversation with people like I don't want to be the mascot superintendent and I don't think we want to be the mascot School District but at the same time uh
this is a mess and it should get fixed and uh there's a real cost to us and a cost to us for doing this is going to take away you know opportunities from somewhere else that might mean I don't get my literacy person because we gota
buy a new sign that's stupid um so if you look at the first one the mascot one um and I you know I I'd be the first to admit like writing these for MSB is something I've done a
ton of but um legislature passed law uh it was terribly written uh it was unclear it lacked transparency um it was WR uh implemented incredibly
inconsistently and um there was no funding and so uh I kind of walked through in here if you read through it uh why I think it's a problem districts with the exact same name have had a very different
outcomes uh there's no more no more uh evidence to that than the than the warrior logo which is all over the map across our state and no funding which for us I mean you've seen the estimate previously it's you know my estimate's up to
$800,000 for three team to make a change anyway and again all you got to do is walk around a school it's everywhere um and there are districts that have it worse if you can imagine their lunch chairs all say Braves on the bath and it's it's like going to the old
rph ang set Arena and seeing the Sue everywhere it's everywhere in some District so um I also include the list that we got from the commissioner which only put a gigantic exclamation point on
how bad the process is um so anyway I guess a couple things um and the back page is sort of my take on some of the inconsistency do you want to move forward with this um I don't know I guess Pat and and others on the
committee that have been involved in the de delegate David I know you have been is this something that you address and approve moving forward with that an actual board meeting um actually they changed the process this year Matt all resolutions have to be approved by the school boards
they were having individual school board members bringing resolution so resolution that we want to submit forward has to be approved by the board we can so so then do you want to move forward with this is this how does it look does anybody want to you know work on some language or or make any
edits to it we need to bring it to a board meeting for an official yes yes so we'll put that on the agenda for the next if if that's something the board is interested I definitely want to go forward with this I think you're articulated well
ands about well there's only three problems transparency consistency and C they're just very significant yeah well and I you know my my recommendation this is the solution that I've recommended to
the commissioner of Education to all of our local legislators this would this would make sense of the decisions that have made so far um it would kind of provide a Way Forward I don't know I don't know what I
can't think of another way forward other than this in your conversations did you get push back from um no they're all like oh that that does make sense but you know at some point somebody has to step up and go you're right I need to lead here and that's that's what I
haven't gotten at all they're unwilling afraid whatever the case may be to actually step into the middle of it or Le I would offer one other suggestion additional suggestion I should say once we approve these we should send these off to our local legislators and said we
submitted these to our state Schoolboard Association sure and they'll be part of the state Schoolboard legislative agenda platform if you will just so that they're in a loop on it um not that they're not already in the loop on it but as a
reminder going forward what about tribal leader what about tribal leaders it's actually a good idea problem I don't think you want to do that no well we had a from Lee Lake
perspective they were okay with right y y i i i you'd have to send them to every well I mean as this is laid out it says what's the uh most students in the district how how how this s to be
executed the way that I'm proposing it we would need to have Leech Lake say we're good to go and that's that's where I'd go I so that it doesn't and he already did jump up on them I don't know that we need to bring in
everyone well I think I think I think you want to be careful you're not saying here make this decision again when there's no Authority behind that decision yeah it might be a TI but but a certainly a good informational piece
we're tied with the B and and COC on on on the lag so it's you have them and then and net Lake net lake or boy for and then the one to the South so all right well we can we can pause on
that decision but we'll bring this to the board meeting then so just a if it ends up on msp's legislative agenda which I'm sure it probably will and if there's legislation that's being proposed maybe not the time reach out and say we need
your support sure that's a good point good timing yeah what would be really interesting at that point we're getting way down the road here but our our letter back from midton sue the most wealthy tribe in the
state was basically this right here they basically said we think this should be between local tribes and their local districts so that would be a you know be interesting to see when it or if it plays out where kind of those political decisions
land so Matt when you said so these would go to msba and then they take it upon their cell to do that yeah so then there's a big book yeah of all the resolutions that everybody thought they wanted to do and the delegate assembly looks at that huge book and says these
are the ones we want to move forward with and these are the ones we want to pitch So when you say you need someone to carry it Forward find that person who's going to be like okay yep you're right I'm going to do this is it someone within msba than the delegates or is are you talking about the legislators it'll
be if the delegation if the delegate assembly moves forward with it it will become part of msp's platform and then a gool and find somebody to carry legislation to okay and Pat and I are both delegates in the delegate assembly okay so we would be pushing it uh at
that at that phase okay and our local I mean our local legislators are really frustrated with that process um so I think locally getting support for that I think wouldn't be difficult but U you
know saying you're mad about it and actually putting your name on a bill two things too um the next one is really about something that was a bill in 2024 session Senate file 4995 and House Bar
4986 so this was co-authored by house child and lizard but it was bipartisan there were Republican co-authors on that bill um it's the The Proposal of that
bill was to take um operating referendum Revenue that currently goes from seasonal wreck to the business Levy of the state redirects it back to the school district so there's no increase in cost to the seasonal recreational
property owner it just redirects where the money that they're already paying goes really y did not realize that y so that's all this is asking for is that that money stays where it's generated it stays where the property uh is and the
bill as it was written last spring would have reduced the cost to taxpayers on our referendum by about 20% so it's not you know a g changer necessarily but 80 cents is better than
a dollar yep um and it could be just one more thing that helps us get closer to where we need to get so this had this had quite a bit of support I just think they ran out of field last spring and people didn't
really want to get anything done when it came to the end of the day I think it might be good to uh uh you've got the numbers uh in uh in in District 318 this would mean sure uh so that it's you know to say po 92 in an
average school district was one thing but sure uh to speak to it personally be I think more powerful and there I mean there are districts around us you know like Ain it would be like 40 some percent um I don't they just passed the
capital projects let me so if any tension of going out but and the other thing is for districts like uh Nash walk they have a $500 one on the books it would decrease the cost of that $500 operating reper by
30 I remember it was 32% so those taxpayers would see a decrease the resident tax see decrease so um David are you proposing in like the uh explain why this ISL why this is a problem going into a little
more detail about how to affect some districts local yeah here okay uh make it personal okay bring this one ahead too yes okay good work yeah for sure uh moving on um next item on the
agenda Schoolboard meeting agenda format superintendent gross uh thanks two things two things here um the one is about structure and process so we currently have limited our consent
agenda to Personnel items only there are many other things that can go on a consent agenda um you know normal and customary contracts there's just a lot more things that could go on there um I'm not
proposing that we make a change to be less forthright but there are some things from a process standpoint are just customary business that we could address on a consent agenda um the other thing that's not technically required is
for our HR person to go down the list I understand why that happens but that's also not required and so I'm just bringing that forward to hear the board's wishes around keep it the same let's keep doing what we've been doing let's make a change uh if we make a
change you know changes in the structure of the meeting would you like to see or none at all it's just a question well I think that is as efficient as you can make a meeting do it and you can you can have the list
still there just not have it read off people can go look for it they can read it the media when they come usually prints that stuff out I don't I don't think it's necessary to read off names so as a board member we would still have the right to pull some
something the consent agenda for discussion yeah I'm okay with more items being on the consent agenda too I mean yes some of the things that are just routine you know right um like Mindy says you know don't don't extend the
process when there's no real purpose and I do hear in respect what you're saying I do like to have the names uh spoken aloud I mean these are people that have committed time and effort and energy and uh they're leaving or they're coming in
uh to have that publicly uh recognized for it takes seconds but I think it's to me it's important I I would agree with you on one aspect David for the people that are retiring yeah um if we can there's a
little bit of recognition there right sure so if we could pull that off and as far as the people coming in they're new to the district I I get that airpl it's there if you want to look for it um maybe a disclaimer that anyone
board member can pull anything off a chart could certainly separate those out yeah just so the public is aware of that aspect of it you could have them first well sure recognize the I don't know if
it's as they come in you know but I think um does list the retires first and then the only thing that I would the only thing that I'd be concerned about
is not everybody leaves under as distinguished of circumstances as everybody else even in a retirement situation so being able to talk about them as a group you know like when one of the things Pat does often is you know
our retirees in this group represent 120 some kind of acknowledging them as a group I'd be concerned if there were situations where yeah not everybody's leaving under his distinguishing circumstances we could work our way
through that though okay yeah if it's you know we can just say that they're not distinguished two categories we'll have then not speak on this issue so in terms of clarification I think I heard and
there's consensus about adding things to the consent agenda that are appropriate to be there yes everybody can request to get pulled I think obviously if that request can happen you know ahead of time ahead of time and when Julie gets the agenda out so that we're not at a
board meeting something doesn't become a spectacle that doesn't really need to um so that would be my request there and then what are we saying around the the reading of names I'm not clear on that we G keep doing what we've been
doing or are we GNA read which is read everybody that comes and goes or we I'd be more AP to the ones that are actually retiring and that too and we're acknowledging them by saying it we're not I don't think to say anything else
and I don't disagree with we might be leaving on whatever terms they're still retiring yeah still still work for us somebody that I've worked with 25 years 30 years 15 years 10 years um we're not getting into the details of why they we're not we say their names now and we
don't say details so I mean the years of say that sure Casey's on do we want to just check and see if she's got any reaction to that Casey are you uh actively monitoring the meeting or
all right well I'll check with her before we do anything different sure um okay I'm here Matt sorry so did you hear that discussion about you know you reading all the names versus just uh the
retirees yeah I caught the end of it here so do you do you have any concerns about when we're having a consent agenda that you wouldn't go necessarily and read down all the names you might just recognize those that are retiring is
there any concern there on your part I don't have any concerns and I think most districts aren't reading them okay all right well we can take that step and then um and see how that goes is that okay y okay the next one's kind of fun
um so let's oh sorry one more thing about format here yeah oh wait we we've been doing this highest student achievement safe and well me persective Partnerships we've done those categories forever and I don't know if they really
accurately reflect the Strategic Focus yeah I'm glad you brought that up I knew there were two things and I forgot the second thing what Mark and I talked about was aligning our agenda around these directions yeah as opposed to the things
we have so I mean that would tie everything together yep there's consensus around all right we'll work on what that looks like um I I like that idea a lot all right with that I'm just thinking back from the msba training on
Monday that we had go everything centers around student achievement is there a statement that we could say at the beginning of our meeting whether that's our mission statement which we I think we all talked about maybe wanted to change that at some point [Music]
time always change every decision we make achievement is at the Forefront something I don't know what those words should be or whatever but just let yeah I'll think about that see what kind
of ideas we come up with if you come up with any let me know but I think that's good yeah kind of like underneath the words strategic directions on here right like that raser that really could be like the and then those are all under it
something like that okay all right um yeah next one's Big Fork mascot sure glad you brought that up um I wasn't gonna go that um so as much as I didn't want to be the
mascot superintendent you know oh I got more sorry everybody got one y um we had a problems identified with the big fork one um um big problems identified
um Heather has been working with um the company that we ordered our weight materials from up there uh B BF BFS they
can't got it anyway they have a graphics Arts side of their business because they know they're going to sell a bunch of uniforms eventually right I mean yeah it's a business decision um this is the logo that they've come up with
um people generally really like it it will be ours when we adopt it which I think is important that we do own it um and so you know the top two really are kind of the centerpiece sort of like the
bird that with outstretched wings and the the bird that's facing forward in Gran reps High School these kind of are similar to those two and then the bottom are more like art that they're working to choose from um to represent on
t-shirts and sweatshirts and you know mobal wear Etc um I talked to Heather and kenry recently about getting some feedback from the community and kiddos and parents up there so they're going to work on a plan for that and um but I
feel good about where this is headed I think people like I said people like it when they see it and is there an issue with the existing mascot um the well the one that the old school one is fine it's just really
outdated then there was a shift to the forward-looking Husky that really is yuk uh yukon's mascot and they blew the whistle on us not in a you know mean way just said hey they
didn't offer to give theirs up they didn't offer to give theirs up um and it's interesting Chad Lov doll at a at a the re most recent Big Fork uh School advisory committee he said I think we called way back when and asked if it was
okay and whoever it was said yeah no problem go ahead and use it um but none of that's in writing and yeah it's not recorded it's not recorded anywhere and you know I I think from a trademark and and that type of a thing if they don't tell us to stop then it
kind of becomes fair game everywhere and they don't want that up so so just a a question it's seems like we're all not all inclusive here because it says Big Fork ice schol yeah I asked that question yeah I asked Heather about that
so I think whether it says Big Fork school or Big Fork Elementary or we have some that say Big Fork Elementary and Big Fork High School kind of that piece we yeah Big Fork school I don't know I just yeah so that's that's kind
of what this is looking like um I said hey it would be really cool if we could get all the kids some T-shirts at the beginning of the year somehow and you know we just need to find some kind of a donation me I think for less than three ,000 bucks we could buy probably get
some cheap t-shirts for me internet ordered T-shirts made up that would be pretty cool so make working on that too sounds good yeah so that's kind of fun last item on the agenda School
District identity um all right so uh a few meetings ago uh work sessions ago we talked about you know back to the community ation plan Pati for calling about what it is how it is that we refer
to ourselves and you know the eight or 10 different names of ours that quote out there and none of them are used consistently um his work around recommending or when districts are in situations like ours geographically and
with school Arrangement um and but just how important it is that we land on a name and a and um and we talked at that meeting about some options that the most sort of
um the the name that would follow the most common conventions would be something like Grand Rapids area schools or Grand Rapids area public schools my action item out of that meeting was to talk to the Big Fork School advisory committee about
it um so Mark Mark was at the meeting uh we talked about it there there was at that table and I think to a person that I brought this up with universal uh agreement that having 10
names is not good correct everybody agrees with that good um uh I shared the rationale that Colin put together about you know when do hyphens show up and when do they not what happens if you're you know in districts like ours what what's
predominantly seen and so I shared Grand Rapids area schools is the name that we've talked about the most I didn't ask for a vote but I did say what are your what's your reaction to that and um I would say that the reaction wasn't
as uh strong as I expected but there were a couple that said you know we don't you know we obviously don't like that big Forks not in the name um so I well one of the points that was brought
up is um for example we have Cohasset schools right Cohasset is a significantly larger School than big pork yep and you know why aren't we gr up goasa big pork and I think Matt said well how many how many municipalities do
we have 30 30 yeah you know so uh one of the suggestions at the table was what about itasa area because one of the comments was you know what's Grand Rapids area and I said hey that's probably a really good idea
except I task Area Schools is already taken it's got a ISD number and everything UH 60 70 so it's not as much as that might have worked it's not really an option so um at some point we need to proceed we're a little bit in a
No Man's Land right now where I have people kind of like what are we going to do can we use any name yeah we get and I think at some point we need to be able to move forward I don't think we need a big splashy campaign that says we're uh rebranding as this or that we
just need to be able to say we're going to start referring to ourselves as this when we see the newsletter it's going to say that my recommendation is that we use Grand Rapids area schools um and it just move forward and get going um but
it has to be something we're committed to using consistently otherwise we're we're kind of just adding another name to the list so I guess I I'm looking for some direction on when when to start using something different or to land on
something I'd absolutely support that uh itasa uh doesn't mean much past a 50 m 50 mile radius our buses say atasco they do well but people think of Headwaters
when they think of it think you know but we can start ordering them when they get buses yep get whatever I think Grand Rapids area uh recognizes that it's larger than a a city what are what are
your thoughts about the public schools or or just schools yeah I uh I think when we were kind of kicking that around I think it was just about keeping it more concise um but I I wouldn't be
opposed to gr up are public schools either I don't think in the end is going to change much of anything because we're going to use those un official things it I mean it it still is just describing something that's overarching it's not on a daily basis
going to be used all the time it's not gonna be like Grand Rapids area Grand R there Grand R there I mean I just don't think it'll make it a lot easier for people talking about it m I don't know I think it's has a scub rapid school they do you know I mean
it's there but I me you brought up the deal about the foundation too right well it's the grand repid Area Chamber of Commerce it's the grand rid Area Community Foundation I that that happens a lot area yeah and I understand you know
uh the the comment was made you know from one of the school advisory committee members that I don't consider myself Grand Rabbids area and you know when somebody asks me where Big Fork is I say it's 40 miles north of Grand
Rapids that's the I don't say it's 30 miles south of Little Fork or you know eight miles north of Marcel I mean there's it's it is the landmark that's the reality of it you know if I was trying to describe where ferto bell
trammy is I'd say Well it's south and east of KRON uh because there has to be some point and people might not even know where that is talk about gr Forks so do you have any suggestions agents to Big par
committee I I I asked that because this gonna be subject there just this it's all about identity I think the um I think the proof to that
community that their top of mind to us is how much we include them in what it is we communicate about so if we're putting a newsletter out there we have to make sure Big Fork shows up in there
right right we're putting out something on the radio we have to make sure Big Fork shows up in there we have to kind of by our actions and what they see make sure that shows up um well and the solar project is Big Fork specific um it's not
that the school can feel slighted at this point which would be a great topic for the newsletter it would be yeah it's true but when you say District 318 or ISD 318 Schools they're still not getting the notification you know what I
mean right still not in that either right so I mean if you just put out the communications that's really just the overarching thing it's not going to be the main point of anything we've always done it this way I just I actually think it isn't going to end up being that big of a deal
it seems like it that we're making this conscious decision but in the end it's just not going to be something that stands out as much as you think it would so let me ask this question do you feel we had a enough of a conversation with the advisory committee to move forward
does it worker one or two more conversations I mean we we threw this alter we had some discussion after giving it some more thought any input it take it back out in the community get some feedback bring it back to
us I think if we were looking for consensus or a vote I think it would be but I don't believe that's what the intent was of our conversation and I don't think that's what it should be um they got there
MTH up and I think that if you had followup conversations just saying this we decide to do this we're still going to emphasize Big Fork like we always have and maybe even more so and then do that I just think
it well then the key is is this is what we're saying we're GNA do we have to be in sure we're going to do with not necessarily that just as T the main matter Mark isure I mean it's got to be
this right broad ring that everybody's underneath her they need to be intentional on what they're doing I was on the uh Community Foundation board long long ago when we had exactly that discussion and it still goes on and uh settled with area because it
really does say it's not brand Rapids it's an area and um we had consensus at one yeah so yeah you can say that but I know what it really means so I what what kind of
direction are we Landing or we am I okay to start you know saying gr off area schools our is that September 1st okay all right okay I think we as board members need to do as well sure yeah that's
really important for sure it'll be a lot easier yeah and it's going to help as we you know one of the things we're going to be doing next is coming up some new visual identity too um you know I ask just did some of this work and I think it's it's good and
so that'll be part of that work too is just new visual identity any other business just a comment if we're serious about changing our mission statement an opportunity
to TI gr opportunity of schools whatever yeah okay [Music]